of endorsement for gay marriage? >> the president addressed this this morning on good morning america. he had been thinking about this decision on his position and whether to speak out for a long time, really hinged around the vote in new york to legalize same-sex marriage. he thought if he had been a state legislator in new york he would have voted for it. he was going to do this before the convention. it became part of the national conversation throughout the week and thought this was the right time to step up and do it. >> but ben, i still have questions. we know, everybody has been talking about this vote in north carolina which happened on tuesday. why didn't the president come out before that vote and sort of you know, give america, give north carolina voters a reason to not vote in support of amendment one and to really perhaps hand a brass ring to the gay rights community in north carolina? >> he's taken a stand against those sorts of divisive and

discriminatory measures in states dating back to the 2007-08 race when he opposed prop 8. and these other discriminatory measures which could roll back equal rights for gays and lesbians. the campaign was on the record on that fronts, we had spoken out. many of our supporters got involved in trying to defeat that measure. >> and my last on the timing. you say or the president and the white house messaging has said that the president was going to make this announcement at the democratic national convention later this summer. when we talk about the optics of this a lot of folks said that this was political calculation. don't you seem it would have been more transparently political if he made this announcement at the convention? >> you know, this has been a long trajectory for the president. it's a long trajectory for the vice president. it's a long trajectory for the country which has evolved on this issue over the past couple of decades.

the president has been consistent about that he's always fought for equality. this is an administration that allowed hospital visitation rights and medical decision making for gay partners. the president kept his promise to repeal "don't ask, don't tell." these are the sorts of things he has been fighting for for years but decided civil unions were not sufficient after hearing from friends, parents, sasha and malia's friends parents and hearing from service members who could fight and die but not get married and he thought it was important for him personally to take the next step. >> thanks, ben. i want to open this to the panel. we'll keep you there and keep asking you questions. folk, this is i think it is a line in the sand for american history and having the first american president come out in support of marriage equality. it has not been lost on the white house that this is obviously a political opportunity as well. there is a new ad out by team obama criticizing mitt romney for his position on gay

marriage. let's take a look at that. >> i indicated my view which is i do not favor marriage between people of the same gender and i don't favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name. >> the last couple days, you know, i think folks on the right and left saying the president's position or lack of you know, a clear position on gay marriage was a political liability. has it now become a political liability for mitt romney? >> i'm not sure because i don't know what this means in the long term for the republicans or the democrats. i'm not actually sure what it means for the president. i know it's historic obviously, but he didn't say he was going to come out and push an amendment for it. he didn't say he was going to try to fight for these things. he said i'm for it personally but i'm going to let the states decide. i don't think that's a revelation to anybody who thought he was evolving on this over time. i think that's where we thought he was the beginning of the

election. so i'm not sure what this does to forward this idea. >> you don't think that the president sort of embracing the notion of marriage equality, regardless of whether there is actually policy in place puts the heat on mitt romney to take a firm stand one way or the other? he has said i believe marriage is between a man and woman but this is going to abtalking point in terms of civil rights issue, i think, that's going to be batted around. >> i think couching it in terms of civil rights is questionable as it relates to the african american community. i heard this time and time again from my friends in the community say this is not the same thing to us. it's offensive to us that they use this in the same terms as they did in the 60s. we do not have the same struggles. we're not in the same dog fight. i think there is going to absplit in the african-american community. it doesn't mean they are going to now not support the president. it mean this is could keep them home, suppress some of that vote and also just make them a little angry at the president. >> when hogan said he didn't

know the short-term versus the long term effect for the republicans or the democrats, i think that's right about the short-term. i think the politics that you galvanize some of obama's base, some of the republican base. who knows how that will play out. long term i think there is no question how it plays out. long term you see the last 15 years, the support in all of the polls for gay marriage going from 2-to-1 against to around 50/50. that's not going to stop that people under 40 support it by two thirds so. the arc of history is pretty clear here. it's not going to suddenly people 30-year-olds are not going to suddenly say i was wrong about that. i don't want gay people to get married. >> i agree with that. i think the short-term political question is how close the election is going to be otherwise. i think that's when it starts to matter. as curt said, the long term vectors among the youth population are clear. where it could matter is if the race is very close in swing states and among conservative --

socially conservative democrats in the midwest and the south. >> we have a little bit of data on that, a gallup poll from may 8 in terms of same-sex -- support for sax sex marriage among independents. >> almost like democrats. >> 40% say it should be legal. ben, i want to bring you in, in terms of this being an issue on the campaign trail, i got an e-mail from the obama campaign in my inbox after the president made his announcement. a fundraising e-mail. one in six of the president's top donors are gay. how has fundraising been in the last 24 hours for team obama? >> the president didn't do this based on politics, he did it because it was the right thing to do. we've gotten notes from people saying that his decision to speak out affirmed their own family and that it was important for them and they were more motivated to work on his behalf. but you talked about how this will play out on the campaign trail. and i think it will as a policy matter in terms of gay rights more broadly, not just same-sex

marriage. the fact is that mitt romney is to the right of where george bush was in 2004, mitt romney is against civil unions. mitt romney yesterday refused to say he supports at a federal level hospital visitation rights for gay partners. that's a policy the president put into place. hisp 6 to civil unions could have an effect on benefits for gays and lesbians across the country, so the question is why he's to the right of where george bush was in 2004 after he said in 1994 he would do more for gay rights than ted kennedy would. >> somehow i think i'm going to be hearing to the right of where george bush was a lot between now and election day. >> this is a candidate who labeled himself as severely conservative and the ideal tea party candidate. >> that's the other thing i think. severely conservative. sir, thank you for your time. great to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> we'll look at the practical implications of the president's remarks and what it means for gay couples at the state level.

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different states are coming to different conclusions. i think it's important to recognize that folks who feel very strongly that marriage should be defined narrowly as between a man and a woman, many of them are not coming at it from a mean-spirited perspective. >> in an interview with "good morning america's" robin roberts the president clarified his position but said that states should ultimately decide if they want to legalize it. that's what's happening. on tuesday north carolina became the 31st state to ban marriage

equality. six states plus d.c. per fit gay and lesbian couples to wed. we were talking whether this is an issue that fires up voters. you said you seem to think no. >> look, no offense to ben who is doing an excellent job of trying to be the spokesperson who says this was all emotion. no one believes that politics did not play a role in the unveiling of this announcement. of course it did. but the strategy i don't think is for votes. because as you say, people who were not going to vote for obama are still not going to vote for obama. and people who were you know, now have even more reason to. so i think this was more about dollars than it was about votes. i think obama wants some hollywood money, he wants money from the gay and lesbian community saying we're with holding until and unless he makes a statement on this. i think by even white house

admission, in saying that they were going to do this at the convention, reveals that this was a political calculation. that's okay. as soon who has always supported gay rights i'm happy to have him on our side now. but no one believes that he woke up -- >> i would dare say not the republican party position. >> but no one believes that yesterday was the day that he woke up in his evolution on this issue was complete. >> i think two things. one, certainly dollars are a bonus, i'm sure part of the calculation. let's not underestimate the courage that it takes to do this at this point in time. on the day after black voters in north carolina, a swing state that the president absolutely wants to and needs to win, overwhelmingly support an amendment -- >> wouldn't it be more courageous the day before as you asked ben? >> i'm not talking about the timing. he did it. he is risking, i don't think he is risking african-american voters not going. >> i don't know that they are

going to vote for mitt romney but could stay home. >> if you jump in north carolina before hand then you really get charged with politicizing it and nationalizing it and in his talk on "good morning america" he was very states rightsy saying not only the states can decide to legalize marriage but the states can outlaw gay marriage on their own. he was pretty clear about that. >> when we talk, though, about ginning up the base i think that we are underestimating how much this exciting young voters. this is i think with issues like immigration reform, and the environment, gay rights, it's a civil rights issue for a lot of young voters. this does get out 18-24-year-olds who i think have been fairly unenthusiastic. >> to the cultural impact of this which goes beyond votes and dollars and the cultural seizing on this cultural moment will help inject the campaign with some new life and energy. >> there is nothing wrong with dollars. i agree it was courageous but the bankers are gone, the people that gave a lot of money last

time are in retreat so i think he does have a money issue. this is a good thing. >> hogan, you brought up what this means practically in terms of the implication because the president has kicked it back to the states. two competing editorials from "the wall street journal" and new york times. "the new york times" says that position restricts the right to marry to the 20 states that have not adopted the kind of constitutional prohibitions north carolina voters approved on tuesday. mr. obama should remember that in 1967, the supreme court said no state could prohibit mixed race marriage because marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man. those rights are too precious and too fragile to be left up to the whim of states and the tearing winds of modern partisan politics. "the wall street journal" saying in support of kicking it to the states saying this has the advantage of not turning gay rights into another abortion debate whose preemption produced little but cultural discord.

this time let's put an issue with sincerely held beliefs where such matters can be settled over time -- in the state legislatures. this is an interesting question. is the subject of marriage equality better handled at a state level or at the supreme court level? >> that's a very good question. you know, i think this is one of those issues where long time ago when the issue was slave, states don't have the right to legalize moral wrongs, then it was slavery. the right would argue this is a moral wrong and should not be left to the states and we can't have 50 different definitions of life, we can't have 50 different definitions of marriage, and if you're a gay couple and you move into a state that doesn't allow for gay marriage, what happens there. there are all kinds ever implications and ramifications of kicking this back to the states. and you know, that's one ever the things that romney is going to have to decide, too. yes, he is for marriage between

one man and woman. is he going to be as states rightsy or come out and say i'm going to go for a federal marriage amendment and try to amend the constitution to say that. that's going to be a bigger question, i think, this cycle. >> in terms of resolving the issue, it's a big question. with the issue of interracial marriage, sort of the supreme court handed down its ruling and it was law and it's no long area controversial thing. abortion, supreme court made a decision and it continues to be an incredible topic 40 years later. >> there's that and just as if we were to write an alternate history it might be better for those pro choice people among us if the supreme court had not issued roe v. wade and had worked its way through the legislature. i'm inclined to agree with "the wall street journal" here, that the more that you get the people through their legislatures to agree to this the better. at a certain point perhaps the supreme court in an ideal world would step in.

remember, with civil rights, we had you know, several hundred years. certainly 100 years before they came in and said in love v virginia that black and white people should be able to get married. give the people a chance to get used to it i would argue. >> s.e.? >> yes. but this goes back to something that hogan said earlier. i'm not really sure what the president just accomplished here. other than giving it his sort of rhetorical he is not suggesting that he would go state to state and you know, seek amendments or something on the federal level. i mean, i don't know, if i'm in the gay community or the gay rights community, am i really happy that this is a president who just said well, i finally decided to like you guys. i've decided i accept you people. i don't know. it feels political. and it feels a little self

aggrandizing. >> i will leave our viewers on this note from andrew sullivan writing i think one of the more moving pieces i read on this decision. he says just this. the interview changes no law, it has no tangible effect. but it reaffirms for me the integrity of this man we are immensely lucky to have in the white house. the reason this was a big problem for president obama is because it is the first time i think a vast majority of the american public really questioned his character. and i think he responded very strongly yesterday. that is my opinion of course. we'll leave you with that. into the break, some key members of congress are offering anything but an endorsement of same-sex marriage. will they wind up being on the wrong side of history? we'll discuss that next.

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same-sex marriage house republicans approved a bill that would ban the justice department from using taxpayer money to oppose the defense of marriage act. one step forward, two steps back. let's you know, we know what our elected leader president obama has said. john boehner, speaker of the house said today i believe marriage is between a man and woman. the democrats can talk about all this they want but the fact is the american people are asking where are the jobs. pivoting back to the economy. home runry reed, a powerful man in democratic politics says my personal belief is that marriage is between a man and woman but in a civil society i believe that people should be able to marry whomever they want. he went on to say various things about it's no business of his whether two men want to get married, two women want to get married. when it comes down to congress and legislation, if there were to be real legislation moving the ball forward on gay marriage, it looks like it's rather stuck. >> i'm interested in boehner's comments and the pivot back to

the economy. at the end of this day this is only an important issue if the election is tight. i think if things continue on as they are the economy is slowly but surely improving. it's not a huge recovery. oil prices are going down. i think things in that sphere look pretty good for the president come fall. and i think that if it's not tight then the social issues don't matter as much. i think he will definitely be on the right side of history and i think frankly, the long term trend that curt pointed out, 77% of young people approve gay marriage. end of story. >> i think if things looked that good for the president he would not have taken this political risk. i think the president is worried about money as we discussed and worried that it is going to be tight. i think this is a clear indication and projecting out that he was going to do this at the convention i think this is a clear indication he is very worried that the economy is not going to support his re-election bid. >> i will point out a tweet from the one and only allen west.

president failures are masked by irrelevant paneledering as a collectivist who does not respect individual sovereignty. more of the same politics. this is interesting the conservatives are saying the president doesn't respect individual sovereignty because isn't this just precisely letting the individuals and couples choose. >> all of the communists in the house would be against gay marriage if you polled them. >> true. >> conservatives and gay rights have always had to me a natural understanding, both should want the government out of their private lives. >> yet, hogan, many conservatives do not. why is that? >> they are allowed. they are allowed to not. >> i will say i think that's one thing the president should have said in his interview last night was that as the leader of the free world, making this huge statement, that obviously been publicized like crazy today, i would have really liked to have heard the president say now,

this is my belief, this is your belief, we should respect each other's rights to -- >> he did just that. he said people who don't believe in this aren't nasty people. he didn't try and impune the reputation. >> my friends have problems with this. >> what i meant i was happy he was able to say let's have a civil conversation about this. just because i don't believe in it doesn't mean i am mean and nasty, because you don't believe in it doesn't mean you're mean and nasty. let's talk about the issue and move on. >> well, allen west apparently didn't get that memo. coming up we'll take a closer look at mitt romney's faith when it comes to religion is romney keeping it too close to the vest? we'll ask republican congressman raul labrador when he joins us. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink? ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind.

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with gay marriage sure to be a topic of discussion until november, added scrutiny is placed on mitt romney's social positions. romney's mormon church has traditionally treated homosexuality as a sin though there are signs of shifting attitudes. this was a bishop delivering an apology for his intolerance to the lgg community. >> brothers and sisters, my straight borothers and sisters, you and i know that i can't speak on behalf of the church today. but i can speak on behalf of myself. remember this. i'm sorry. deeply, deeply sorry. >> joining us is idaho congressman republican raul labrador. congressman, thanks for joining the program. >> great to be on your show,

alex. >> would you -- you are a member of the mormon church. do you think attitudes in the church are changing vis-a-vis homosexuality? >> i don't think they are changing in the sense that i think you're trying to describe. we have always loved all of our brothers and sisters regardless of their gender identity. i think it's clear to us we believe that it is a sin and i think that's something that i think the majority of americans. it's interesting to me that the president's trying to insert a social issue that we haven't even been talking about in this presidential election. and it's amazing to me that i know george clooney played a great presidential movie but now he's setting the policy for this president. >> i don't know that that's a fair assertion that george clooney is setting the policy. i think in fact there are a lot of gay couples who think this is a very important issue for them regardless whether the media has been covering it and it's part of the political discourse. >> but it hasn't even --

>> your point is well taken as far as the positions of the church on homosexuality and on many sexual issues. one of the things and you said this on "meet the press" earlier this month that you thought mitt romney should maybe talk more about his experience as a bishop in the church and the role his faith has played in his public life. do you still stand by that? >> absolutely. i think he should talk about his life experiences. he has his entire life he has been a servant of a community that has had different issues that they are dealing with. you've had poverty, divorce, you've had things that he has had to deal with as a bishop in the church, as a state president in the church which is a lay minister in the church. i think he could speak to those things because what the media is doing or what this campaign, the obama campaign is trying to do is say he's out of touch with everyday americans and he's not. he's probably more in touch than most americans because of the experiences he has had in all of

his church responsibilities. >> s.e., that's a very good point. we talk about this a lot and i know hogan, you work for senator sanitorium. romney still has not figured out a way to talk about this stuff. to the congressman's point, he gives in 2011 he gave $4 million to the church. that's 19% of his income. 13.8% of his income. you may disagree the way the church uses that but that is charitable giving. his experience as a missionary in france, dealing with poor families. he has this firsthand experience that he never really talks about. >> right. congressman labrador is right that he needs to do more of that. and i think the good news is you know, g.k. once said that the test after good religion is whether you can laugh about it, make fun of it. the good news i think in the past decade or so mormonism has really come into the mainstream pop culture in meaningful ways,

whether it's "the book of mormon" broadway show, big love on hbo. >> big love, though, and "the book of mormon" are the best surrogate for the faith. >> they become acceptable to sort of poke fun at mormonism in ways we've been doing for other religions for years. that's good news because having a sense of humor about with it means that it's becoming a little less impenetrable. >> to pull that off which he doesn't. and i mean i would love to hear more about this part of his background. but i think what worked for santorum is he was able to project an authenticity about it all. it may be authentic for romney but he's not good getting into the personal stuff and doesn't project it well. >> maybe the congressman can comment on this. if there isn't an opportunity as a mormon for governor romney to say we as mormons have been ostracized and oppressed for 180 years, my grand father driven out of the country for his sexual preferences.

seems there is an historical connection that he could say i understand, perhaps. >> congressman, i would ask you, is the mormon community let down by the fact that mitt romney has effectively put his religion in the closet? >> no, not at all. in fact t mormon community has a hard time talking about hair religion because we tend to be a community that doesn't wear our religion on our sleeves. sometimes you try to distinguish between your religious life and your private life and you don't talk about your religious life in your everyday affairs. so i think there is a hesitancy. there has been a lot of persecution of the church. i think people just are reluctant to talk about it. but i think if he talked about it, i think he would be more welcome and people would understand where he's coming from. it's important for him to express his belief in jesus christ as his savior and people would understand that. >> hogan, i think that's an interesting point. senator santorum spoke to the

evangelical conservative crowd. you think they would be accepting of the morming faith and candidate? >> i think so but i'm going to use it, for the morality point probably so. i think i'm going to use a word that came out of the movie "game change" and that's vetted. here we had two presidential cycles where mike huckabee was on the stage and someone asked him does your wife submit to you. michele bachmann goes on stage, do you submit to your husband. we have vetted christianity, they used it as a whipping boy and every debate. we had evangelical presidents, we had catholic presidents, we never had a mormon president. for some reason the questions keep going back to the evangelical. never to someone's religion. they never ask the mormon. and we had two. we had huntsman and no one asked the question. i found that to be very odd and telling of how the media treats christianity. >> congressman, are you confident that mitt romney will

you know, give a warmer embrace to his own religion and put it more on center stage in the coming months between now and november? >> i think he will. if you look at some of his latest speeches that he has given he has been more open about his background, about his family background, what his father did. if you think about the life his father led, he was a mason. he came from nothing and he was able to become the president of a major organization. there's many things that he's talking about that i think he is being more open about. but i have to tell what you president obama did last night with this doma issue and the gay marriage issue he just ensured that the entire community of evangelicals gets behind mitt romney which is something that mitt romney has not been able to do on his own. it shows you that president obama is actually weak right now. he needs to actually get his own base to rally around him. and he's so desperate to get his own base to rally around him that he's inserting an issue

that most americans are not worried about. >> again i take issue with that. most americans not being worried about with civil rights and marriage equality. but again that can be your interpretation. the evangelical vote, important to neat franklin graham just released a statement in response to the president saying it is a sad day for america, may god help us. clearly this is an issue that does not unite some parts of the country. thank you to congressman raul labrador. >> thank you. >> after the break with mother's day nearly upon us, ann romney pens an op bed motherhood. we'll discuss the mom wars next. we love gardening... yeah, but the feeling wasn't always mutual. i want you to grow big! if you grow for me, you'll get cookies for free. nothing worked. ♪ but we started using miracle-gro garden soil. you just mix it with your backyard soil...

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ann romney is out with an opinion piece talking about the role she played as a mother to

five boys and what she learned from her own mother. mrs. romney writes women wear many hats. daughter, sister, bread winner. no matter where we are or what we're doing one hat that moms never take off is the crown of moth arehood. there is no crown more glorious. the op-ed on the heels of a new ad restore our feature which criticizes democrats for attacking mothers. >> ann romney raised five boys, she successfully battled breast cancer, and multiple sclerosis. but what does white house insider hilary rosen say about ann romney? >> guess what, his wife has never worked a day in her life. >> and bill mahr who gave $1 million supporting obama attacks. >> ann romney never got out of the house. >> happy mother's day from barack obama's team. >> nothing like a bill mahr

mother's day card. you wear the crown of motherhood. we're talking about mom wars and "time" magazine has this cover, you have to hold it in a specific way so -- there. are you mom enough? >> so uncomfortable. >> the question is well taken. especially as we look at what's happening on the eve of mother's day. are you mom enough? both sides know that they need to make a run for women. married, independent, single, working, whatever. the mom question seems to abpotent tool in this fight. >> the mom question is always a potent tool. we put something about mothers and mothering on the cover it will move off the stands but it will create a debate on line, on television. it's an incredibly rich topic. i think that speaks to obviously the importance of mothers in society. but you know, our cover looks at the way in which some mothers are perhaps taking things to extreme. there is a guru of attachment

parenting encouraging moms to pick up children every time they cry, to wear them in swings, to breast feed for a long time. we're not making a judgment call on this or the science of it but it's part of a really rich debate. >> you know, women and women's issues have come into the forefront of the presidential race. i thought this was fascinating. a republican senator, robert dole from illinois, unveiled the protecting women's access to health care act. this is like the most common sense move any republican has made, i think this year. according to him, we've seen several attempts to block funds and exclude health care providers in the title 10 program because they separately offer services beyond the scope of title 10. we should not discriminate against hospitals and organizations that provide access to basic preventative and in some cases life saving services for so many underprivileged women through title 10.

>> who who he represents, an affluent chicago suburb. there used to be a lot of republicans like him, like ann romney who supported planned parenthood. so he's news today because there are so few of him in his party these days. >> i'm flank bid two conservatives. what do you think of that? what do you think of robert dold's proposal? s.e.? this is the first time someone on the right saying this makes no sense. why are we cutting funding for it? >> well, because you know, title 10 speaks to an impulse i think that a lot of conservatives and maybe even some independents have that taxpayer money should not be funding planned parenthood. that is a serious issue for a lot of people. people feel very strongly about it. and i don't think that it should be dismissed as blacky or fringe or extreme. >> on the same hand, should you

be dismissing an entire organization that provides important critical health care -- >> they also perform nearly 1,000 abortions a day by their own estimations. you can't tell someone for whom that is a very important issue that it shouldn't matter. >> and you likewise you should say to the women that once got health care good-bye, and good luck. >> it's not as if they can't get health care anywhere else. >> okay. i will move on to another point which is that kathleen sebelius t the secretary of health and human services invited to speak at georgetown. two catholic groups are calling to rescind the invitation. robert george says this will signal to the world that the nation's oldest catholic and most famous jesuit university stands with the obama administration in its war against the catholic bishops and others who oppose the hhs mandate. that is to say having kathleen sebelius speak. what do you make of it?

>> another one of those things that just -- so many people on both sides of this issue. paul ryan got demagogued for speaking there, and now this comes up. you know, i mean, rick made a point of this during the campaign, that this is -- it's not an issue about contraception, it's forcing a religious institution to do something that was outside the scope of their belief and it's fine if they want to protest sebelius, if they want to protest ryan, i just don't know that it matters all that much. >> something to be said for opposing viewpoints and at least hearing the other side. >> a university. >> it's a great university. >> apparently the students chose sebelius. i think it's clear whether it's georgetown under president dejoya or notre dame under father jenkins are clearly inserting themselves into this debate. and they want to be part of it.

because catholics are facing a huge identity crisis right now. voting for president obama by 56% when right to life issues are central to their doctrine, should be explained and reconciled. >> i think clearly, wanting to be part of that debate i don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. having speakers -- >> an indication that they are fighting between principle and politics. >> or they are fighting -- >> there is an agitation there that either needs to be reconciled or they need to make a clear distinction that our politics are now separate from our principle also. >> the paul ryan budget. >> is very much in line with the catholic principles. >> and the catholic church does not. >> scholars at georgetown do not. catholic church has yet to weigh in on this. >> this is how easy it would be for sharia law. see. we're all arguing about the interpretation. >> it's true. the catholic church is at the center of many heated debates.

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welcome back. time for what now t white house says that russian president vladamir putin will not attend the g-8 summit later this month. putin will be sending outgoingment and incoming prime minister, do me tree medvedev in his place. >> mini me. >> that's exactly right. rona, unpacking this a bit. the state department criticized russia's handling of the anti-putin rallies in moscow earlier in the week. there is a lot of hew and cry how fair the elections were, the

fact it's kind of either your choices are either putin or medvedev. this would seem to be the russian response. >> we know what putin is all about, we know what he's done to the russian economy, tanked it, what he's done to civil rights, suppressed them. i think there is going to abnatural life cycle w. oil prices going down he's not going to be able to stay in power probably for as long as he might like. i think this situation is actually going to evolve. i hope it doesn't get messy and or bloody. i think the russian people are going to demand more and when oil tanks then he's not going to have the budget. >> this is not going to g-8 is like a scene from a james bond movie. anything that makes the world more like a james bond movie i'm for. >> he is a character. >> taking his toys and going home. >> cutting off your nose to spite your face. a new study shows that former professional football players live longer.

hogan, this is the most questionable study out there. we know there has been a huge amount of attention paid to the health effects of playing football which has gotten increasingly violent. that study studied 3500 players who played at least five nfl seasons. >> the game's gotten more violent since then. it does stand to reason that these people have the best doctors, the best health care, the best nutrition. they are enormous, they are in great shape. so it makes sense on that. but at the same time i know the nfl is really trying to crack down on some of these vicious nasty helmet-to-helmet hits. you see a lot of former players coming out with brain damage and all kinds of health issues later on in life. that were caused by the violence of the game. >> you have new sort of revelations, minnesota vikings receiver chris carter admitted he would offer his teammates money to take out players that he thought were trying to take him out.

>> his were protective, he said, in response to somebody that was going to attack him so he wanted to be protected. >> the violence in the nfl issing? to be followed. thanks to curt, s.e., hogan and rona. i'll see you tomorrow at noon eastern at 9:00 a.m. pacific when i'm joined by sam stein and hogan gidley is back and new york attorney general eric snyderman. until then find us at facebook.com. "andrea mitchell reports" is next. luke russert is in for andrea today. >> good afternoon. coming up on "andrea mitchell reports," how house republicans quickly reacted to president obama's support for same-sex marriage, president obama cashes in on red carpet royalty and the voting bloc now bigger than the baby-boomers next on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc.

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right now on "andrea mitchell reports," historic endorsement, after years of evolving on the issue president obama becomes the first sitting president to announce his support for same-sex marriage. but at what political cost? was the president boxed in by biden being biden? was timing a factor as the president heads west for tonight's sold out fund-raiser with george clooney? mitt romney who vored the federal ban on same-sex marriage reaffirms his position. >> i have the same view on marriage that i have -- had when i was governor and expressed. i believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. >> closing the gender gap just in time for mother's day. a new ad from the super pac supporting mitt romney, and look out al roker. the royal weather report from prince charles and camilla. >> this afternoon it will be cold, wet and windy across most of scotland. we're under the